Oxehealth has carried out the world’s first health monitoring trial with secure psychiatric patients, using contactless camera-based technology at Broadmoor high security psychiatric hospital

Oxehealth, a biomedical software development company spun out from the University of Oxford’s Institute of Biomedical Engineering in 2012, has completed a successful trial of its Oxecam patient safety monitoring software at Broadmoor Hospital.

The trial monitored seven patient volunteers overnight and captured more than 180 hours of data using the technology. Collaborating closely with Broadmoor’s clinicians, Oxehealth demonstrated not only that the technology can monitor the safety and health of the patients by identifying their movement, heart rate and breathing rate, but that it does so with medical grade accuracy.

In line with other large field tests, the Oxecam software correctly reported patients’ breathing rate to within two breaths per minute 94% of the time and correctly identified patients as safe with 99.8% accuracy. Oxecam took on average just 3.6 seconds to acquire vital signs and was as accurate at acquiring breathing rate when the patients had entirely concealed themselves under a blanket.

Staff working at Broadmoor Hospital and in other mental health environments are currently required to check on patients by making periodic visual observations. However, these checks disturb the patient, are often difficult to perform, especially at night, and can be subject to inconsistencies. Oxecam Video Analytics address this challenge by using sophisticated algorithms to process video images and alert staff whenever the patient appears to be at risk. By producing alerts Oxecam Video Analytics solution enables staff to monitor patient health without having to view a live video feed: therefore patients’ privacy and dignity are better safeguarded.

'We were very pleased with the results of the trial and we think Oxehealth’s technology could really support patient care,' said Dr Rob Bates, Clinical Director of Broadmoor Hospital.

'I am delighted with how Oxehealth and Broadmoor Hospital have worked together to achieve a world first: monitoring the health of psychiatric patients with cameras in a secure room setting,' commented Jonathan Chevallier, CEO Oxehealth. 'This project has demonstrated the potential of the Oxecam technology to improve patient safety, treatment outcomes and well-being and to free up staff time to perform more patient care activities.

'We are now working hard on the first production release of the Oxecam and look forward to deploying this, not just into mental health but also to detention environments in the police and elsewhere.'